1. Field of the Invention
The subject matter of the present invention is a process for the surface treatment of a material other than the human body, chosen from metallic and fibrous materials, which comprises contacting said metallic or fibrous material with a composition comprising at least one dianhydrohexitol ether, preferably dimethyl isosorbide (“DMI”) or dimethyl isoidide (“DMIi”).
2. Description of the Related Art
Among dianhydrohexitol ethers, DMI, which has been known for more than 50 years, is that which has formed the subject of the greatest number of studies in terms of preparation and of applications. This compound is very particularly recommended in the treatment of the human body as vectorizing agent for active principles which allows the latter to more effectively reach their target inside the human body. It is used in particular as “skin penetrant” for the purpose of improving the penetration of active principles into the surface layers of the epidermis of protein nature (keratin). Its use as vector of keratolytic agent for the purpose of improving the percutaneous absorption of said agent is, for example, described in patent application WO 2004/105722.
However, it should be noted that, to date, in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic fields, DMI is made use of industrially and commercially only in relatively restricted amounts, this being the case in applicative “niches”, such as self-tanning creams or anti-acne creams.
In the context of the treatment of the human body, a description has also been given, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,258,070, of the treatment of the nails with a composition intended to remove varnish deposited beforehand at their surface. Within this composition, the DMI is present in an amount of 5% by weight only (according to the examples) and acts only as “catalyst”, allowing the specific binary mixture of propylene carbonate and of propylene glycol to act effectively as solvent of the nail varnish. Furthermore, it is emphasized that the DMI/propylene carbonate binary mixture or the DMI/propylene glycol binary mixture has no role in dissolving the varnish. In this document, the precise effects of the DMI are not clearly apparent, in particular with regard to its potential abilities, which are undesired here, to penetrate inside the constituent keratin of the nail and to carry therein one and/or other of the solvents.
In any case, such DMI-comprising solvent compositions for nail varnishes have never a priori been marketed and it must be considered, in view of the above, that if they were to be marketed one day, they would comprise only a low or very low proportion of DMI.
With regard to the treatment of a material other than the human body, to the knowledge of the Applicant Company, there exists only a single published document, namely U.S. Pat. No. 5,843,194, which discloses the use of DMI in the specific field of gelled compositions intended for the preparation of candles. In this specific context, the DMI is used in the constituent body of the candle, necessarily in small proportions (6% maximum in practice) and in combination with isostearyl alcohol, this being for esthetic purposes and in particular as flame-enhancing agent. However, it appears that, in the absence of isostearyl alcohol, the DMI does not make it possible to obtain a candle which is satisfactory in terms of combustion and also transparency. To the knowledge of the Applicant Company, the use of DMI in the preparation of candles, in particular as flame-enhancing agent, has never undergone industrial and commercial development.
The observation may thus be made that, to date, the industrial and commercial exploitation of dianhydrohexitol ethers including DMI, remains very limited in the field of the treatment of the human body and is absent in the other fields, in particular in the fields of detergency, inks and paints, construction materials, metallurgy, printing, papermaking, the textile industry, plant protection products, adhesives, industrial coatings and electronics.